Major spoilers for Yellowjackets season 1 below.
The end to season 1 of Showtime’s Yellowjackets was…a lot. What’s real? What’s not? Does reality even exist? From Jackie’s shocking death to Natalie’s present-day kidnapping to the re-emergence of adult Lottie, there’s a bounty of mysterious new information and easter eggs to dissect in season 2.
One of the most bizarre story lines is Taissa’s nighttime wanderings. Below, we break down different theories and discuss that creepy man with no eyes who seems to follow her.
What’s going on with Taissa’s sleepwalking visions?
Following the plane crash, Taissa starts venturing out in the freezing wilderness by herself to climb trees and…eat dirt? The sleepwalking also plagues Taissa in the present day, possibly due to stress. She is raising her son and trying to solve a slew of marital issues; confronting an anonymous blackmailer and helping cover up a murder; and also running a contentious political campaign—which ends up getting her elected as state senator.
“Although [Taissa] might not literally know the details of how this has happened, she has made the connection between what we’ll call ‘the wilderness,’ whatever force was out there, and this improbable election upset,” Yellowjackets co-creator Bart Nickerson previously told ELLE.com. “So how she navigates that will very much be a big question for her in season 2.”
It makes sense, then, that Taissa’s nightly blackouts are a sign of her spiraling out of control. Or—like many fan theories posit—it could be her connection to the supernatural world.
Is Taissa…evil?
Played by Tawny Cypress, present-day Taissa doesn’t seem to remember anything that happens on her night escapades. In a disturbing twist at the end of season 1, Taissa’s missing dog is discovered beheaded in their basement. Next to the dog’s head is one of her son Sammy’s dismembered dolls and the mysterious triangle symbol that appears throughout the show.
From the outside looking in, it’s easy to connect her macabre behavior as an adult to *waves arms* everything that happened after the plane crash in the wilderness. But does it mean that Taissa is evil? Hopefully season 2 will provide some answers.
Who is the man with no eyes?
In season 1, episode 3, Taissa sees a man with no eyes in the mirror during a flashback of her her grandmother’s death. The man is, in short, very creepy. It’s not immediately clear who he is or why he seems to be haunting Taissa. Is he symbolic? Does he want something from Taissa? Is he confirmation of a supernatural element to the show?
Eyes seem to be a metaphorical theme in Yellowjackets, with teenage Taissa poking at her grandmother’s eyes at her funeral. In the basement shrine, adult Taissa discovers Sammy’s doll has an eye removed. Speaking of Sammy, in episode 2, he covers his bedroom windows with sketches of eyeless people. Some fans have theorized that Sammy is being haunted by the same things that haunt Taissa.
The new episodes of Yellowjackets are streaming Fridays on Showtime. Will Taissa’s basement behavior—and the identity of the man with no eyes—finally be explained?
Senior Editor
Rose is a Senior Editor at ELLE overseeing features and projects about women’s issues. She is an accomplished and compassionate storyteller and editor who excels in obtaining exclusive interviews and unearthing compelling features.
